There’s Something I should tell you…

Over the past few weeks, I’ve received several emails and texts asking me whether I’m excited to be leaving Madagascar at the end of August. Indeed, a Fulbright ETA grant lasts up to 9 months, so it’s natural to assume that since my grant began when I arrived at the onset of December, my grant would finish at the end of August when I’m scheduled to return to the United States. For whatever reason, it hasn’t really dawned on me that there’s something I should probably tell you. . . I’m not coming back.

Well, let me clarify. I’m not staying in Madagascar forever. That’s certainly not in the current agenda of Nathaniel Bald’s plans for the immediate to mid-term future. However, I will not be returning the United States at the end of the month. Nonetheless, I should explain a little better than I am now.

Several months ago, all the current ETAs, about 46 of us, scattered across the African continent were alerted to a new opportunity. Fulbright is in the process of initiating a new program called the ETA Mentor Program. What does that entail? Well, the new position is only open to current ETAs – yours truly included – and would extend the ETA’s grant an addition 9 to 10 months. The ETA mentor would remain in the host country and would reduce the weekly allotted hours of teaching at their host or new host institution. In addition to that, the ETA mentor would mentor and facilitate a community-like atmosphere for new ETAs during their grant period, training them, offering support, providing networks to resources, etc. The ETA mentor is also responsible for mentoring up to 12 other ETAs located in 4 other African countries. Essentially, the ETA mentor is a community facilitator for new ETAs across various African countries where ETAs can share their experiences, offer each other support, and learn to be better teachers through this collaboration.

As you can assume by now, I applied and was selected to be in Sub Sahara Africa’s first mentor cohort. So, instead of returning the States at the end of August, I will be staying in Madagascar until about June, 2023. While here, I’ll continue to teach in the classroom, although those hours will be limited. I will mentor the incoming ETAs for Madagascar as well as those of 4 other countries, of which those entail is still unknown to me. And I will be beginning a new part of my job, training Malagasy English teachers.

If you recall an earlier blog post, probably all the way back in December or January, I told you why I am here, and more importantly, why the Fulbright ETA program exists in the first place. Besides fostering cross-cultural exchange, whatever the hell that really means, the Fulbright ETA program offers the United States Department of State a unique opportunity to spread mutual understanding of English in other countries as well as improve the quality of that education through the implementation of tested and more efficient methods of teaching, mostly student-center approaches that encourage independent and autonomous learning, critical thinking skills, and cross-subject or interdisciplinary collaboration. Whether you think it’s right or not, English is the global lingua franca due to the global power that is the United States and its many flexing arms. A perfect example is that while on vacation, I met a Chinese man who didn’t speak Malagasy, nor did his guide speak Chinese. The common language? You got it, English. That means two people from wildly different places were able to communicate through their second languages. And since they both probably learned a standard version of English, their communication was probably more mutually understandable than if two people from wildly different parts of the US were to try to interact. Absolutely crazy. Anyways, if Madagascar wants to get into a global market, people need to speak English. If Madagascar wants more tourists, it needs guides – which are essential to traveling throughout certain parts of the country – who can communicate effectively in English and understand cultural norms of English-speaking countries. If Madagascar wants access to the overwhelming and incredibly infinite database of knowledge and communication we call the internet, then it’s best to speak English.

Given Madagascar’s, let’s say, rocky past with France, it’s unlikely that the average Malagasy person will lean towards more francophone relationships than anglophone ones. In short, Madagascar is at an impasse where it can either invest in English or French. It has learned that isolating itself and forcing everything into Malagasy was detrimental, not only to the national economy and international relations, but also to the education of youth and university students who lack sufficient Malagasy resources. Despite the abundance of intelligent and lively people, there is a lack of interest in producing literature and unique economic solutions to specifically Malagasy problems. And although there is a strong music industry in Madagascar, other cultural products can’t compete with those of France and the United States. What is more interesting is that this choice, between English and French, has been part of Madagascar’s history ever since England and France began fighting over influence of the country. And similarly enough, the upper classes in Madagascar typically favor French whereas the lower classes favor English, a defining characteristic from that first contact with both languages. In fact, the upper classes are divided between French and English whereas the lower classes are very much in favor of English, nearly wholesale, because of their extreme prejudice and dislike for French arrogance and superiority complex.

Why do I tell you all of this? Well, because I am now another cog in the great English teaching machine that continues to roll forward across the Red Island.

Obviously, I’m on the side of English, although I do appreciate French. And before you think America is imposing English on people like some kind of linguistic neo-colonialism, you must understand that formerly colonized peoples have a complicated and complex relationship with their colonial languages. English here is different because it was not the language of the ruling class. Indeed, French took that role. In other words, the Malagasy people, en mass, are choosing to learn English over French because of a variety of reasons unique to specific communities and individuals. Trust me, you should know by know that I would never force someone against their divinely given right of free will. But I believe in the mission here, not just to increase the number of English speakers in Madagascar, but in the greater overarching mission of improving the quality of education across the island. In short, my new position has a greater purpose of encouraging higher quality education, first in the acquisition of the English language, and second, and hopefully, across other subjects as well.

How do we plan to do this?

At some point in some blog, I’m sure I’ve told you about one of my side projects. Sometimes we are asked to attend workshops and conferences hosted by the US Embassy for teachers across the country. Essentially, our Public Affairs Officer (PAO) has devised a plan to maximize the use of our limited resources. Who better to improve the quality of Malagasy education than Malagasy educators? And that’s what we do. We train Malagasy educators in more effective means of teaching English and then train them how to train others to do the same. In economics we call it an investment in capital. That is, we invest in producing better equipped teachers who will then produce better equipped teachers, not only here in the capital city, but across the island where it is (extremely) difficult to reach on a regular basis.

Therefore, with my reduced hours in the classroom, I will be focusing on training teachers, at large and small events. I will be training them in leading activities that involve a variety of skills which promote critical thinking. I will teach them about classroom confidence while instructing students. I will teach them, above all things which they have asked me, pronunciation and how to sound more like a native speaker. And I will train them in so much more. Moreover, the plan isn’t to impose what I think they need. Well, sometimes it is. Rather, I receive constant feedback and information from my friends and colleagues who, now that they know me well, are very apt to express their teaching and professional needs. I don’t have unlimited resources. But I do have a community of educators who are passionate about what they do and want to improve themselves for the benefit of their students and their country. Now that’s some damn good patriotism right there.

This kind of approach and the overall mission that I now undertake is different in nature than it has been the last several months. No, I will not be returning to the United States for some time now. And although I very much could have gone home, there is a need here, a need which I can fulfill to the best of my ability. It is as St. Martin of Tours said when faced with many challenges and the urge to retire from his post, “Lord, if your people need me, I will not refuse the work. Your will be done.” And so I say the same now, although in a much different context.

As always, know that you are in my prayers each morning. All I ask is that you do the same for me. In addition, I ask that you pray for the success of our mission, the mission of improving the quality of education for Malagasy youth all over this beautiful island.

May God be praised.